What We Do

The National Immigration Project’s executive director, Dan Kesselbrenner, is a leading expert on the intersection of criminal and immigration law in the United States. A noncitizen in the criminal justice system faces permanent separation from her or his family and banishment from the U.S. The National Immigration Project has been at the forefront of the effort to help criminal defense lawyers across the U.S. understand and protect their noncitizen clients.

For more than two decades, the National Immigration Project has provided legal support, training, and technical assistance to noncitizens, legal advocates, community groups, and families responding to immigration enforcement actions. In addition to being a leading source of cutting-edge legal strategies, the National Immigration Project develops community resource materials to build greater awareness about draconian enforcement actions and the toll exacted upon families.

The National Immigration Project has helped lead the way in expanding legal rights for noncitizens under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and related legislation for twenty years, providing general legal support to advocates and attorneys around the country who are working with undocumented victims of abuse and other crimes, and working to develop policies and practices within the federal government that support the rights of immigrant crime victims, including those affected by intimate partner violence and, most recently, workplace crimes.

The National Immigration Project opposes immigration enforcement that limits the democratic participation of noncitizens in civil society. We work to ensure that noncitizens have the right to free political expression and participation in the free marketplace of ideas without fear of reprisal. Alongside advocates, we work to create response plans for noncitizens who engage in direct action for progressive causes.